Over the years, computing systems have been subjected to an increasing variety of malware attacks. One such type of malware is ransomware that prevents a user from accessing or otherwise utilizing a computing device, such as a smart phone, until the user pays a ransom to unlock the computing device. Such ransomware often executes a program that runs on the user's computing device in such manner that the user is not able to access the computing device. For example, the ransomware may activate a process that opens a foreground window that occupies the entire display region on the computing device. The ransomware may prevent the user from closing the foreground window and/or may prevent the user from disabling the process, effectively blocking the user from using the handheld device.
Once the user's computing device is locked by ransomware, the user is left with the option of either paying a ransom to a malicious party to unlock the computing device or performing a factory reset to regain control of the computing device. Unfortunately, performing a factory reset can be time consuming. Additionally, a factory reset may lead to a loss of data and the nullification of personalized user device settings. If the user opts to pay a ransom to a malicious party to unlock the computing device, there is no guarantee that all of the malicious files will all be removed from the computing device, leaving the user's computing device compromised and open to additional ransomware or other malware attacks in the future. The instant disclosure, therefore, identifies and addresses a need for systems and methods for terminating a computer process blocking user access to a computing device.